Coal pusher for locomotive tenders



June 6, 1939. R. MILBURN El AL 2,161,373

COAL PUSHER FOR LOCOMOTIVE TENDERS Filed Aug. '1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet ll- I I v/////////////////////I I I IN VEN TORS A TTORNE).

June 6, 1939. R. MlLBURN ET AL COAL PUSHER FOR LOCOMOTIVE TENDERS FiledAug. 1, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 LIII'IIIII w jig:

I mmmm INVENTORS lPor ,ll/mawsw,

A TTORNEY Patented June 6,

UNITED STATES? PATENT OFFICE seen J F PO QMQTFVE E D R Y Roy lVIilburnand Wade Briggs', -Muskogee, Okla. A

' Application n ust i933, 'sei ia live. 222,556

2 Claims. (l. 193-221) r invention relates toimprovements in r f o n oa'in mq ive dgrsen t.

has. for an object to effect an improvement dap ed. t be n p ed w u hersalready) in use to increase their effectivenessandutility aswell as toenable the original manufacture in tenders of improved equipmentembodying my" invention with a minimum ofexpense and without requiringstructural modification of tender or standard pushers.

It has been the experience with ordinary push-,

ers that an arch forms at the mid'part of the b in and extendingrearwardlysupported in part on the slope sheet, so that the pushersoperateunder the arch without being able to move a large pro} portion ofthe coalin the bin as desired. Also,

' even if each arch doesv not extend over thepushers, much coalgremainson the slopesheet, It is therefore an aim of this invention to providea2O pusher construction in which such arch cannot l form ordinarily andproper operation of the pusher on the coalwill be assured, so'that allcoal'will be pushed forward until the reserve is depleted to a properminimum consistent with ,25 good performance of such devices.

It is also an object to enable the incorporation,

of my invention on various types of pushers already in use withoutrequiring reconstruction of the tender or pusher structure, and using'Qi principally stock materials and simple shop operations requiring nospecial machining. Additional objects, advantages and features ofinvention reside in the construction, arrangement and combination ofparts involved in the embodiment of the invention, as will be under-tstood from the following description and accom-' panying drawings,wherein v t Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a tendon and pusherembodying my invention. 40 a Figure 2 is a top view thereof.

Figure 3 is a detail of one of therear pushers.

There is illustrated a tender structure including the usual binconstruction ID, including side walls H and wear plate !2, the sidewalls having 45 outwardly sloping upper parts l3. The wear plate may lieover or as shown may comprise at its rear part the slope sheet of thetender, as preferred.

On the upper and rear part of the slope sheet 2 50 there is centrallymounted a steam cylinder l4 arranged longitudinally ofthe tender andcomprising part of the motor of any standard or approved coal pusher,the operative means and controls of which are not illustrated as theymay be 55. of any usual form of which there are several well known,anddo not form a novel part of the invention. v I I A' shield or hood i5is extended forwardly from the cylinder, within which may operate thepiston rod and an offset link connection l6 between 5 the piston rod andthe upper standard form of pusher ll, which atretracted position of thepiston lies close to the extremity of the hood l5. The pusher I1 is atransverse bar or plate extending nearly the width of the forward bin 10space, and is substantially wedge-shaped in cross section fore-and-aft,forming a knife edge l8 toward therear, and having a forward or frontface l9 perpendicular to the plane of the bottom side of the pusher. Thebottom side may rest flat upon or close to the slope sheet. Midway ofits length agsocket is integrally formed on this pusher, presentedtoward the rear, in which the forward end of the link l6is secured. Onthe forward face ll) of thispusher, ears 2| are formed near each end,between which links 22 are pivoted, extending forwardly and pivotedbetween corresponding ea'rs23 formed on the upper sloping' face bf theforward pusher 24, which is similar in cross section and length to theone ll. 25 The links 22 are simple rectilinear bars, and the ears 2| and23 are so located that the links are within the altitude of the frontfaces of the pushers and will interfere in a minimum degree with themovement of the pushers through obstruction by coal thereover. Ifdesired, any usual form of guide rails may be mounted on the floor andslope sheet to hold the pushers to 'a proper path between the sides ofthe bin when the device is operated.

There are mounted on the upper part of the slope sheet two pairs ofguide rails 25, one pair on each side of the cylinder I4, these railsbeing 2 shaped in cross section with upwardly offset top flangespresented toward each other and 40 spaced from the slope sheet to formguide channels. Slide plates 26 are slidably engaged under the topflanges, on the rear parts of which respective wedge shaped pusher bars2'! are secured, corresponding in cross sectional form and measurementswith those of the bars H and 24. Ears 28 are formed centrally of theforward sides of the bars 21, between which the rear ends of links 29are pivoted, which are extended forwardly parallel to the slope sheet adistance, and then slightly upward and forward closely over the bar I1,their forward ends being turned downwardly and bifurcated to receivetherein respective links 22, to which they are pivotally 55 connected,so that as the bars I! and 24 are moved, so will the bars 21 be also.

The plates 26 are extended a distance forwardly of the bars 21, and eachhas mounted thereon at the front edge parallel upstanding ears 30,between which the respective link 29 is held for slight vertical slidingmovement, as may be required in operation of the forward pushers. Theears aid in holding the plates 26 in proper alinement with the rails 25and prevent jamming of the plates 26 between the rails, which is atendency at times when one end of a plate 26 or its bar 21. strikes aheavy lump of coal in the mass thereover. I

In operation, the projection of the piston of the motor to its forwardlimit 'movesjhe forward pusher forwardly on the floor ,of the bin, andthis moves thispusher also above the plane"-of the path of the rearpusher, so that the link 22 moves pivotally in the ears 2| and raisesthe forward ends of the links 29 slightly. The forward pusher 24 also isslightly rotated by the change of its position with respect to theperpendicular,

. due to its lower side moving from inclined position to approximatelyhorizontal position on the floor of the bin. In this movement of'the'pushers l1 and 24 a mass of coal in the lower portion of the mass in thebin is propelled forwardly, and due to the linkage of the rear plates 26these are also drawn forwardly, moving forward a corresponding'mass ofcoal from under or within that located over the slope sheet. This lastaction breaks the footing of the arch that tends to form, and causes aconstant lowering of the pile in the bin until approximately all ispropelled forward, under the repeated operations of the pushers. In theretractive movements of the pushers, the flat wedge-shape of the pushersenables them to be readily drawn rearwardly under the coal with aminimum of retardance, the coal passing thereover without rearwardtranslation.

It will be understood that while I have described a specific embodimentof the invention, it is; not

, pusher connected therewith and movable on the slope sheet, a forwardpusher -movable on the floor, links connected between the forward pusherand the first named pusher, upper pushers spaced rearwardly of the firstnamed pusher on the slope sheet adjacent respective sides of the bin,and

respective links pivotally connected to the front sides of the upperpushers extended forwardly over the first named pusher and downwardlyand pivotally connected to the respective first named links. 7

f2;- 'A coal pusher of the character described for a locomotivete'nderhaving a bin including a slope sheet and floor, areciprocatingpiston motor mounted adjacent the slope sheet, a-transverse pusherconnected therewithand movable on the slope sheetfa forward pushermovable on the floor, links connected between the forward pusher and thefirst'namedpusher, upper pushers spaced rearwardlyof the first namedpusher on the slope sheet adjacent respective sides of the bin, and linkconnections between the first named pusher and said upper pushers, saidupper pushers each comprising guide rails, a flat plate fitted slidablytherebetween and slidable on the slope sheet, said link connectiontherewith consisting of a respective link pivoted on the front side ofthe upper pusher close to the flat plate, and spaced ears on the fiatplate spaced forwardly of the upper pusher and receiving the linkslidably therebetween. 4 g

ROY MILBURN.

WADE BRIGGS.

